7: Captured

At night, Gu Changan activated the bronze small cauldron to begin duplication.

He stopped after duplicating a few of each type of Talisman, as he did not yet know how much Treasure Qi upgrading a Talisman would consume.

He had to save it for now!

However, Gu Changan noticed something unusual.

When he had duplicated the blood lingzhi, it consumed a lot of Treasure Qi, but duplicating a Yellow Rank Low Grade Talisman only consumed a sliver of Treasure Qi each.

It seemed that there was a difference between treasures.

A Yellow Rank Low Grade Talisman should belong to the lowest tier of treasures, while the blood lingzhi was much higher.

In the end, Gu Changan chose the explosion talisman, gold needle Talisman, and vajra talisman to upgrade.

One for area-of-effect attacks, one for single-target attacks, and one for defense.

As the Crimson Treasure Qi rapidly depleted, three Advanced Talismans were subsequently generated.

At a glance, they were clearly yellow rank supreme grade, with each Talisman containing explosive energy.

The runes on them were much more complex than those on the Yellow Rank Low Grade Talismans, and the material had also changed.

Gu Changan felt a bit regretful that he did not know how powerful they were or if there was a place to test them.

It seemed he would have to head to the Wenxing Grand Ceremony first and try them when he had time.

Gu Changan observed the crimson gemstone on the bronze small cauldron and discovered that the Treasure Qi inside did not seem to have decreased much!

Relieved, he began to duplicate a large number of yellow rank supreme grade Talismans.

He duplicated ten of each: top-grade explosion talisman, top-grade gold needle Talisman, and top-grade vajra talisman, just in case.

Then, he began to upgrade the spirit gathering pill, as the Crimson Treasure Qi surged in.

The spirit gathering pill underwent drastic changes.

The spirit gathering pill appeared to shrink slightly, but the energy inside became even more powerful.

Twelve Medicinal Pill patterns had also formed on its surface.

Gu Changan remembered that according to the record of cultivation revelations, Low Grade Medicinal Pills had one to three pill patterns, and so on, while supreme grade Medicinal Pills had nine to twelve pill patterns.

Supreme grade Medicinal Pills contained no pill toxins.

Gu Changan smiled happily; no matter what his Spiritual Root was like in the future, he could take pills as he pleased without worrying about pill toxins.

Gu Changan left the small town and headed east, and what met his eyes was an endless forest.

Others who left the small town would throw out a Flying Sword, step onto it, and with a whoosh, fly out of sight!

Some would throw out a small boat that grew larger in the wind; they would step onto it and rise slowly into the air, fully displaying the demeanor of a big shot!

Some would pull a piece of cotton from their sleeves, throw it on the ground to cover a large area, jump into it and disappear, and then a white cloud would slowly rise into the sky!

Some would release a huge black scorpion from their spirit beast pouch, step onto the scorpion's back, and vanish into the dense forest.

Gu Changan watched, dumbfounded. Weren't these just different versions of transportation?

Sports cars, business cars, modified cars, donkey carts?

If he had to say he was envious, he was still most envious of the one stepping on the Flying Sword; that was truly cool!

He hadn't expected that even after Cultivating, there would still be so much comparison!

Of course, most people did not have transportation and could only trudge forward with their heads down.

Gu Changan followed behind this group of people, walking unsteadily.

Meanwhile, Luo Li entered the small town aboard a flying boat.

In truth, Luo Li did not know where to find the person the Old Ancestor had mentioned at first.

However, the Old Ancestor said they would meet naturally, so she decided to let it be!

Luo Li wanted to come to Desolate Heaven Small Town to take a look and observe the Ancient Forbidden Land in the eyes of the world from up close.

Upon landing in the town, she attracted the attention of most Cultivators, but as soon as they saw the Tianji Pavilion Token at Luo Li's waist, they all silently dispersed.

Tianji Pavilion members were clearly not to be trifled with; it was best to avoid them if possible.

Luo Li arrived at a slightly higher-class restaurant in the small town, the "Yingkelai" restaurant.

The Waiter approached cautiously, but before he could speak, Luo Li tossed him a Spirit Stone.

Luo Li said indifferently, "I ask, you answer!"

"Has anything major happened in the small town recently?"

The Waiter took the Spirit Stone, holding it in his hand, feeling both delighted and fearful.

"Senior, if you count major events, does the Blood Fiend Alliance killing people inside the Forbidden Ground count?"

Luo Li: "Why?"

The Waiter: "How could I possibly know that? No news has come out!"

Luo Li nodded: "Is there anything else?"

The Waiter hurriedly shook his head: "That is all I know."

Luo Li thought for a moment: "Has anything strange happened in the small town recently? Or anything interesting?"

The Waiter: "Senior, you are making it difficult for me."

"I am just a Waiter; I have no time to go out at all."

Luo Li was silent for a moment; it seemed that the task the Old Ancestor had entrusted to her was indeed not so easy to complete.

Then she would just stay in the small town for a few days!

She would look around, and if she found nothing, she would go to the next location.

As for the Ancient Forbidden Land, she certainly dared not enter.

Tianji Pavilion had long recorded that the Ancient Forbidden Land was a place of no return.

Those who could come out were all people who possessed some Luck.

On Gu Changan's side, he followed the crowd ahead, walking for about ten miles or so.

He was blocked by a group of people from the Blood Fiend Alliance.

Most of the people who had come out of the small town earlier had not escaped and were all gathered here.

And all around, there were members of the Blood Fiend Alliance guarding them.

Gu Changan recognized their clothes; after all, his encounter inside the Ancient Forbidden Land was still fresh in his memory.

He had not expected to run into them so soon after leaving the small town.

He wondered what they wanted to do this time.

It felt like the Blood Fiend Alliance was endlessly causing trouble!

He observed his surroundings, but there was no good way to escape.

Gu Changan's heart sank!

He observed this group of people carefully and also discovered something wrong.

The Blood Fiend Alliance members inside the Ancient Forbidden Land were all extremely arrogant.

They didn't bother to cover their faces at all, acting as if they were afraid people wouldn't recognize them.

But this group of people outside...

Although they were all wearing the blood-red clothes of the Blood Fiend Alliance and had the Blood Fiend Alliance Token hanging at their waists.

However, none of them had any Evil Qi on them—the kind of Evil Qi that comes from killing many people!

Also, everyone was wearing a mask.

For example, those few people in the very center.

Gu Changan was captured, his Storage Pouch was searched, and then he was thrown into the crowd.

His Storage Pouch only contained some medicinal herbs and a long sword.

As for other important items, they had long been transferred by Gu Changan into the treasure gathering basin.

Gu Changan entered the crowd and stood in the very center, afraid of being made an example of.

He also pricked up his ears to listen to how everyone was discussing the situation.

"It's over, it's over! We ran into the Blood Fiend Alliance; this time it's certain death."

"My blood ginseng! I just got it from the Forbidden Ground and was thinking I could make a fortune when I got back."

"At the very least, I could have Cultivated to the Late Stage Qi Refining."

"Those goddamn members of the Blood Fiend Alliance! I had saved up Spirit Stones for so long."

Although Gu Changan hadn't lost anything important, he only had one Storage Pouch!

He also revealed an expression of resentment.

Gu Changan's attention was on the few Blood Fiend Alliance Cultivators leading the group.

The leading Blood Fiend Alliance member was tall, with graying hair, and wore a golden mask.

The four Cultivators beside him, one woman and three men, were all roughly middle-aged and wore silver-white masks.

The female Cultivator holding a long sword said: "Deacon, your method is still the best!"

"We didn't expose our identities."

"And we also captured so much Cannon Fodder."

"Even if something happens, we can shift the blame onto the Blood Fiend Alliance!"